I’m currently a junior in high school and I was wondering what’s more important to colleges during their selection process, grades or extracurriculars? As of right now I have straight A’s in all AP and honors courses (aside from one B I’m going to get in AP Physics this semester) but I’m lacking a little in the clubs department. I’m in one volunteering club, 3 national honors societies, and a health club but I don’t have any leadership roles and I haven’t been in any of them for longer than two years. Will this be a major drawback if I’m applying to selective colleges with medical programs? I also played for my school’s badminton team in freshman year but I don’t really think that counts… thank you in advance!
Grades.
For most colleges, grades.
For super selective colleges, both (and other things) need to be at the top of the range.
neither - TEST SCORES
It depends on which schools specifically you are trying to get into. Each school publishes what they consider and how important it is to them in the admissions process. This can be found by searching for the school you are interested in and looking for their Common Data Set. There is a ton of really good information here, but what you are looking for is section C - FIRST-TIME, FIRST-YEAR (FRESHMAN) ADMISSION. Grades are the most important, but as you go up into the range of more competitive schools, everything else starts taking on more importance because they are the thing that can differentiate you. The reality is that at the most competitive schools, it all becomes important.
I second what @ucbalumnus wrote.
Joining a few more clubs wouldn’t make a difference for selective colleges, which are accustomed to applicants with EC’s that are much more meaningful.
what’s are selective colleges with medical programs?
GRADES!
The first thing you need to do is google " Common Data Set" and
then look in Section C7: Relative importance of each of the following academic and nonacademic factors in first-time, firstyear,degree-seeking (freshman) admission decisions.
Then look at " Extracurricular activities"
Is it Very Important, Important, Considered, or Not Considered?
Big State schools may only “consider” ECs because they mostly use GPA/SAT/ACT because of the sheer number of applicants. Private schools have holistic admissions and may think it “very important”.
But every college has GPA and SAT/ACT as Very Important.